schultheis



I 4Sheets-Sheet 1. J. F. SOHULTHEIS.

Fire-Escape.

No. 223,453. Patented Jan. 13, I88

INVENTOR:

WITNESEEE N PETERS, PHOTO-LIWQQRAPMER, WASHINGTON. n. c.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. F. SGHULTHEIS.

Fire-Escape.

No. 223,453. Patented Jan. 13, 188 0.

WITNEESEE I INVENTORI v, M6421 *W W9 M4. MW

N.?ETE.R$, PHOTO LITHOGRAPHER, WAsnmGToN, n c

4 Sheets-Sheet 3'.

J. P. SGHULTHEIS.

Fire-Escape.

Patented Jan. 13, I880.

IIIMIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIEHIIIIITI lliu nnlmmlnlu K" flllllllllll I INVENTOR: %/;4, MM

MPETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. 0 CV UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. SGHULTHEIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,453, dated January 13, 1880.

Application filed September 24, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, J OHN F. SoHULTHErs, of Joness Wood, in the city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and cleardescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference thereon.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of my invention is to constructa fire-escape which can easily be transported and also will be quick and reliable in operation.

It isof the greatest importance that not only the firemen can mount such a ladder or escape with the utmost safety, but also that the people to be rescued from the perils of fire can be easily reached and brought down to termfirma with safety and dispatch.

My invention also may be used to great advantage in time of war as a military observatory, from which the position and movements of the enemy may be watched. It also may be used as a scaffold for fresco-painters and masons, for the building of chimneys, and for the erection of any high structures.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of the various parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation, with part in section, of the apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a detached elevation of the water-wheel, with partial section of the spout leading the water to the buckets of the wheel. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the leveling arrangement on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section of the apparatus, showing the drivinggear, ropes, and pulleys more clearly. Fig. 5, on the lower half, is a plan of the driving-gear. The upper half represents a horizontal section of the telescoping frame. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of part of the truck and telescoping frame, showing drivinggear and arrangement to regulate the elevation of the different sections of the telescoping frame, more particularly hereinafter described. Fig. 7 is an end View of the guide a, which keeps the regulatingscrew from turning. Fig. 8 is a. side view of one of the hooks or staples which serve to let the diiferent I sections of the telescoping frame move in succession. Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the apparatus raised to its full height, also showing the mode of connecting the bridge with the building and fastening the guy-ropes b c to suitable objects in the vioinity--for instance, to lampposts, trees, railings, &c.-to stifien the structure and keep it from swinging. Fig. 10 is a cross-section of the bridge on a larger scale. Fig. 11 is a front view of part of one of the telescoping frames on a larger scale, showing the pins over which the bridge is hooked to keep it in place.

I will proceed now to describe the construction and operation of my invention more particularly.

A is a four-wheeled truck, which carries the whole structure. It is provided with elliptical springs, as any other truck, with a seat, B, for the driver, and a foot-board, G, at the rear end for the accommodation of the aocom panying firemen.

Under and inside the truck are located four drums, D D, &c., for winding up the ropes, two on each side, and keyed to a horizontal shaft, E, revolving in suitable bearings F F, Ste. In the middle of each shaft E, and between the bearings F, is also keyed a wormwheel, G. On top of this wheel, and at right angles to shaft E, revolving in bearings H, lies the horizontal driving-shaft I, provided with two worms or screws, J, which gear into said worm-wheels Gr. The motion of the two drums on one side is in the opposite direction to the motion of the two drums on the other side; consequently one worm-wheel and screw have a right-handed, the other a left-handed, thread. The driving-shaft I also carries on each end a small water-wheel, K, and each is provided with two inlets or spouts, L, to which a hose, M, can be attached from the next hydrant. By using two spouts on each wheel the motion of the wheel can be reversed, so that by letting in the water on one side the apparatus can be raised up, and by applying it to the other side it may be lowered with facility.

. The construction of these spouts is shown plainlyin Figs. 2 and 5. They have a mouthpiece, N, to which the hose can be readily at tached, and there is a chute or canal, O, which in closes part of the circumference of said wheels K, to utilize the force of the water in the best possible manner. a

In case steam can be had from a fire-engine or any other source, the water-wheels may be dispensed with, and a pair of small steam-cylinders may be placed on the truck in the proper position to drive the screw-shaft; or, where neither steam nor water is available, a crank on each side of the screw-shaft may be used for elevating or lowering the structure.

Abovethe truck is the telescoping part of my structure, which consists of a series of square or rectangular timber or iron frames, one sliding inside the other. .(See Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6, and 9.) a Each frame is constructed of four upright posts, P, having a V-groove on the inside, (see cross-section of frame, Fig. 5,)

the top of the escape has to be made available. Each floor has an opening, T, through which access may be had to the different ladders S.

By examining Figs. 1 and 5, it will be seen that the ladders and openings are not in succession straight down, but go alternately at right angles from floor to floor. The purpose of this arrangement is that if anybody should fall from a ladder he only can fall to the floor below, but not farther.

The lowest or outside frame has prolonged.

side rails, U, at the bottom, for the purpose of obtaining a long base for the whole structure and for the braces V. An additional timber, W, bolted longitudinally to the prolonged side rails, U, serves for the reception of the braces Y. Y

The whole teleseopin g structure rests on' four screws with ball-and-socket joints. (See Fig. 3 on enlarged scale.) This arrangement is for leveling the escape when it comes to stand on uneven ground. It consists of four bearings, Z, with spherical sockets, one on each corner of the apparatus, (see Fig. 5,) to form a square base for the same. It also consists of four screws, a, with balls on one end to fit looselyinto these sockets, so they can easily adjust themselves, according tq the difference in the level of theground. A worm-wheel, I), with a shank, 0, going through the longitudinal rail of the truck A, with shoulder 61 above and collar 6 below the rail, forms the nut for said screw a. The lowest part of this screw, which has no thread, is flattened and slides in a corresponding hole in the guide f to keep the screw from turning. A worm, g, withcrank h attached, gives the means for raising or lowerin g said screws until the proper level of the apparatus is attained. Having accomplished this, the whole upper structure is held down firmly in position by means of the hinged bolt It and the hand-wheel t, which forms the nut for said bolt h.

To the under side of each floor is fastened a hook or staple, through which passes a screw, j. This screw is worked by a chainwhcel, t, forming the nut and revolving in a bearing, m. The other end of the screw is flattened and slides in the guides at, which keeps the screw ft om turning. Another chain-wheel, 0, turns loose on the drum-shaft E, and is provided with teeth to fit the teeth of the clutch This clutch 1) slides, as usual, on a feather on the drum-shaft E, and by means of the lever (1 the chain-wheels can be thrown in or out of gear. The object of this arrangement is, as before stated, to regulate the successive elevation of the different sections of the structure.

The operation is simply as follows: By throwing the clutch into gear with the chainwheel 0 the motion of the drum-shaft E is transmitted, through the chain b, to the chainwheel I and screw j. The screw, being held from'turnin g by the guide it, moves backward through the different staples It, thus allowing each section of the telescoping frame to be raised in succession. As the inside or uppermost section of the apparatus has to move first, no staple is required under it. If this arrangement were not made all the sections would move together from the start, but so each section is held until the-screw has moved backward a certain distance.

When the apparatus is to be lowered the chain-wheels are thrown out of gear, and as chain-wheel 0 turns loose on the drum-shaft E no motion will be transmitted to screw j. After the apparatus is down the guide n is raised and the screw j is moved by hand to its first position through all the staples. Were the screw j not out of gear and allowed to move forward while the apparatus is com- IIO ing down, the screw would strike the first staple, and some derangement might be the result.

Each section of the telescoping frame is also provided with a stop, 0, which regulates the elevation of each section to a certain heightthat is, the very inside section, 1, moves first until stop 1* strikes against the under side of the top rail of the next section, 2, which begins to move now until stop 1' comes in contact with the under side of the top rail of the next section, 3; then section 3 begins to move, and so on until the escape is brought to the required height. Figs. 4c and 9 will show this suificiently clear.

Each section of the telescoping framesis also provided with a set of rollers or pulleys, s s s, &c., on top and bottom, over which the different ropes pass down to the drums. An examination of Figs. 1, 4, and 9 will explain this.

To the hook it, on the innermost section of the telescoping frames, is fastened the end of the rope 0 From there it passes up over the pulley s on the top rail of section 2. From there it passes down over the pulley s, on the lower and inner side of the same section; from there again up and over the pulley s, on the top rail of the next section, 3; from there down over pulley s, on the lower and inner side of the same section 3, and so on until it leaves the last pulley on the top rail of the lowest and outside section, 6, to go over the drum, where it is wound up, and the whole structure rises accordingly.

As there are four ropes, 0 one on each corner of the apparatus, independent from each other, the breaking of one, or even two and three ropes, would not afiect the safety of the apparatus, as one rope is sufficiently strong to sustain the weight of the whole structure.

In the center of innermost section, 1, is a vertical post, a, which slides vertically in a tube or casing, 2 and is capable of being raised vertically (see Figs. 1 and 4) by means of a suitable gearing, substantially as shown by the drawings.

A rack, u, on the post at gears into a pinion, 1;, whose shaft carries a wheel, to, outside of the casing of the post a, and which gears into a pinion, v, to whose shaft one or two cranks or winches, to", may be applied. A pawl, w, keeps the post a at the required height. The object of this sliding post is to keep off the rope which supports the bridge far enough from the railing to prevent it from getting chafed; also, that in case of need the very top of the escape may be used as a support for the bridge.

To the other side of the casing, opposite to the gearing used for hoisting the post a, is bolted a hoisting apparatus with drum, wheel, and pinion, for the purpose of hoisting and facilitating the management of the bridge. 011 the top of said sliding post a is a pair of pulleys, to, over which the rope passes which holds the bridge.

The bridge, as shown in Fig. 1, is secured and carried at the rear of the apparatus, and may be hoisted simultaneously with the escape, or afterward, by means of the hoisting apparatus on post a, above described. This bridge is made of iron, light, yet strong, to give the required safety, and consists of two parts-the stationary part A and the movable one A. (See Fig. 9.) The stationary part is formed of two channel-irons, l forming a guide for the rollers Z on the movable part A, and a bowstring-shaped railin g, Z, the whole being suitably braced.

'siderable length.

on one end of the bridge, (see Figs. 1 and 9,)

areslipped, and held in position by the pin 9'. The movable part A" of the bridge is also made of iron and of similar shape. Four rollers, Z, turning loose on their shafts and running in the grooves of said channel-irons, allow this part of the bridge to be shoved out to a conthe brace a of the channel-irons y, and goes from there over the loose pulley l on the roller-shaft m, from there over the pulley n, which may be called the fast pulley, as it turns on The rope z" is secured to a fixed shaft, 0", secured to the under side of said channel-irons y, to the platform of the escape, where it will be hauled in by the firemen, as explained by Fig.

- Having thus described my invention, I will state I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a telescoping fire-escape, the combination of the watcr-spouts L,vertical waterwheels K, screws J, worm-wheels G, winding-drums D, pulleys s s s, ropes 0 and stops 0" 1', substantially arranged as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of theleveling arrangement, consisting of four vertical screws, a, with ball-and-socket joints Z, worm-wheels 1), screws 9, and guides f, with the telescoping frames 1 2 3, or upper structure, and the truck A.

3. The combination of staples It, screw j, guide n, chain-wheels l and 0, and clutch 10, arranged and operated substantially as herein specified.

4. The central post, a, capable of being raised vertically, and independent of all the sections of the telescoping frames, in a tube or casing, Z pulleys 00, rope cl, and hook-shaped strap c,in combination with an extension-bridge, A A, essentially as herein shown and described.

5. The hooks f, catches e, and pins g,i combination with the top rails of the uppey sections of the telescoping frames and the stationary part A of the extension-bridge, as herein shown and described.

JOHN FR. SOHULTHEIS.

Witnesses 1 JOSEPH KAUSGHINGER, J 011p STIMMEL. 

